Harnessing Wiki-Mediated Collaborative Writing to Enhance ESP Students’ Persuasive Writing,21st-Century Skills,and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of wiki-mediated collaborative writing (WMCW) on enhancing persuasive writing skills, 21st century skills, and writing self-efficacy of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students, following the Vygotskian social-constructivist theory of learning. Two intact classes, comprising 79 ESP students, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 39) and a control group (n = 40), respectively. Over a term of 12 two-hour sessions, the experimental group received wiki-mediated collaborative writing instruction, while the control group received non-wiki collaborative writing instruction. Data were collected through two timed persuasive writing tasks, a 21st century skills scale, a writing self-efficacy scale, and individual semi-structured interviews. The study employs a sequential exploratory mixed method, analyzing the quantitative data using paired samples and independent samples t-tests, and applying language-related episodes and thematic analyses to analyze the qualitative data. The findings indicate that both wiki-mediated and individual writing groups (non-wiki collaborative writing) instructions improved ESP students’ performance in persuasive writing skills, 21st century skills, and writing self-efficacy. Furthermore, the ESP students in the wiki-mediated collaborative writing group outperformed those in the non-wiki collaborative writing group. The qualitative analysis reveals peer writing mediations in the wiki space that enhance the ESP students' writing content, organization, and language use. The pedagogical implications of the study are discussed.